The drying of paper is a very energy-intensive process. For the removal of the water at the drying process a multiple of the energy is used which is normally necessary to evaporate the same amount of free water. The causes for that can be found in machine depending as well as material and chemical factors. In this work the material and chemical influence factors on the drying were shown and analysed. With a simple lab method the drying progress of by lab sheets with defined dry content was recorded with an infrared drying wedge. Three characteristics, the first and second critical moisture concentration as well as the diffusion hindrance, were used to quantify the drying ability of the paper. Specific differences in the drying behaviour of pure fibrous material fleeces and model papers with filler as well as additives could be shown. The first critical moist concentration has the highest impact on the resulting energy demand of the drying process, followed by the diffusion hindrance and the second critical moist concentration. The nature and the processing of the fibrous materials have the biggest effects on the characteristics of the drying. The substitution of fibrous materials by fillers causes a clear reduction of the water retention capacity. A part of this reduction is compensated due to an expansion of the fiber network caused by the incorporated filler particles. Some of the chemical additives, in particular the charged polymers, cause an additional reduction of the water retention capacity due to drainage and structuralisation of the fiber-bound fibrils and the fines.